Central Virginia, 10/7-9/15

All photos are © Marshall Faintich

October 7; Lickinghole Creek and Reservoir, Crozet, VA

I had lots of errands and chores to do the past three days, but wanted to take advantage of some free time to see if any migrating birds were still around after the previous week of rain. I went first to Lickinghole Creek and Reservoir, and although I logged 21 avian species there, it wasn't very "birdy." The reservoir level was very high, and there wasn't much exposed gravel bar for shorebirds. The only warblers I saw there were three Common Yellowthroats and a single Cape May Warbler. I did see my first-of-season Swamp and White-throated Sparrows.


Common Yellowthroat


Common Yellowthroat


Common Yellowthroat


Cape May Warbler


Swamp Sparrow


White-throated Sparrow


Red-shouldered Hawk


Ruby-crowned Kinglet


Ruby-crowned Kinglet


Common Ravens

Lickinghole Creek and Reservoir list:

Mallard
Cooper's Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
Belted Kingfisher
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Blue Jay
American Crow
Carolina Chickadee
White-breasted Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Gray Catbird
Cape May Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Northern Cardinal
White-throated Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
Eastern Phoebe
Common Raven
Eastern Towhee
Tufted Titmouse

October 7; Rockfish Valley Trail, Nellysford, VA

I made a quick stop on the way home at the Rockfish Valley Trail where I added five more avian species for the day, but there were very few birds out and about in the early afternoon. I did see a couple of Indigo Buntings. I hadn't seen this species on the trail for a couple of weeks, so they might have been migrating birds rather than summer residents.


Indigo Bunting


Indigo Bunting and Song Sparrow


Chipping Sparrow

October 7; Stoney Creek (Wintergreen), Nellysford, VA

When I got home, I read that a Red-necked Phalarope had been seen at Leonard's Pond in the Shenandoah Valley, but I didn't have time to go looking for it. A little after 7 p.m. it was starting to get dark outside when I saw a small bat circling above my yard. I thought it might be a good time to try some of the high ISO capabilities of my Canon 7D2 camera body, so I tried capturing a few images at high speed and high ISO. They didn't turn out great, but it is easy to see that it was a bat.


Bat


Bat


Bat

October 8; Rockfish Valley Trail, Nellysford, VA

I had a little free time in the morning, so I went over to the nearby Rockfish Valley Trail to see if morning hours would be more productive there than in the early afternoon, but it still wasn't very "birdy." I did see a warbler that was probably a female American Redstart.


American Redstart (?)


Eastern Bluebird


Eastern Phoebe


Indigo Bunting

October 9; Shenandoah Valley, VA

The forecast was for off and on showers during the morning and afternoon, and I wanted to look for the Red-necked Phalarope. I had seen this species once before, but wasn't able to get close for good photos, and hoped that it would be better this time. About half way to Leonard's Pond, it started to rain, but the rain cleared when I arrived there. The Red-necked Phalarope was still there, but did not come close to the road for really good photos.


Red-necked Phalarope


Red-necked Phalarope


Red-necked Phalarope


Red-necked Phalarope


Red-necked Phalarope


Red-necked Phalarope


Red-necked Phalarope


Red-necked Phalarope


Red-necked Phalarope


Red-necked Phalarope


Red-necked Phalarope


Red-necked Phalarope

Green-winged Teals, Canada Warblers, Mallards, and Ruddy Ducks were there as well.


Green-winged Teals


Green-winged Teal


Ruddy Duck

As soon as I got back into my car, it started to rain again. I wasn't very far away from Nazarenne Wetlands, so I drove there, and luckily, the rain stopped when I arrived. But the wetlands were flooded from all the rain. I saw a couple of Canada Geese, a few Northern Shovelers and Blue-winged Teals, and two Eastern Meadowlarks.


Northern Shovelers


Northern Shoveler


Northern Shovelers and Blue-winged Teals


Eastern Meadowlark


Eastern Meadowlark



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